Canadian women and men also know that things must be called by their name, and this lake is called Lake Ontario – today and forever
By Moses Okorie
US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to rename Lake Ontario Lake America, escalating tensions with Canada amid a deepening trade dispute between the two countries.
The move follows the collapse of recent trade negotiations between Washington and Ottawa and the imposition by the US of new 50% tariffs on about $20 billion (C$28 billion) worth of Canadian goods. Canada has announced plans to respond with equivalent “dollar-for-dollar” tariffs next month.
Trump has repeatedly floated the idea of renaming the lake, one of the five Great Lakes shared by the United States and Canada, in posts on social media.
On Thursday, he declared that the name change was official, effective immediately, claiming that his administration had submitted the necessary documents to implement it.
Under the executive order, the US Department of the Interior has 30 days to update the name in the Geographic Names Information Service, the US government’s official database for domestic geographic names.
However, the proposed change has been firmly rejected by Canadian officials.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney pointed out that the name Lake Ontario dates back more than four centuries, predating both the formation of the Canadian Confederation and the declaration of US independence.
“Canadian women and men also know that things must be called by their name, and this lake is called Lake Ontario – today and forever,” Carney wrote on social media.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford also dismissed Trump’s proposal, saying: It’s Lake Ontario to Canadians and the rest of the world. Now and forever.”
Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston described the move as “some real foolishness”, adding that Canadians would continue to call it Lake Ontario.
Industry Minister Melanie Joly similarly said Canada would “always call it Lake Ontario.”
The latest dispute echoes Trump’s decision after returning to the White House in 2025 to order the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America.”
Mexico rejected that change, arguing that one country cannot unilaterally rename a shared international body of water.
The Gulf of Mexico dispute also triggered tensions between the Trump administration and Google after the technology company updated the name on its Maps service. Users in the US see “Gulf of America”, while users in Mexico see “Gulf of Mexico”; users elsewhere are shown both names.
Trump’s administration also barred Associated Press journalists from certain presidential events after the news agency declined to adopt “Gulf of America” in its reporting. The AP subsequently sued the administration, with the legal dispute continuing.
Internationally, there is no single authority with universal power to determine the names of shared bodies of water. While the US government can decide how geographic features are officially identified within its own federal systems, other countries are not legally required to recognise those names.
Lake Ontario is the smallest of the five Great Lakes and lies between the Canadian province of Ontario and New York State. Its name, like those of Lakes Huron, Michigan and Erie, has Indigenous origins, while Lake Superior derives its name from an anglicised French expression.
For Canada, officials insist the proposed renaming will not alter the lake’s established identity, setting the stage for another symbolic dispute between Washington and Ottawa as their broader trade tensions intensify.